Our Bureau
Cannes
Payal Kapadia created history by becoming the first Indian filmmaker to win the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival for her debut fiction film “All We Imagine as Light”. The film bagged the award, the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d’Or, which was claimed by American director Sean Baker for “Anora”.
“Thank you very much Cannes Film Festival for having our film here. Please don’t wait for another 30 years to have another Indian film,” said Payal Kapadia as she picked up the prestigious Grand Prix for her debut feature, All We Imagine As Light, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
The Indian filmmaker is best known for having won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for her film ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’. In 2017, her film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film that was selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
Kapadia’s film competed alongside works by world-renowned directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Baker, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paul Schrader, Magnus Von Horn, and Paolo Sorrentino. The jury was presided over by Greta Gerwig, director of ‘Ladybird’ and ‘Barbie’. Kapadia’s movie – screened on Thursday night – is the first Indian film in 30 years and first ever by an Indian female director to be showcased in the main competition. The film received an 8-minute standing ovation after the screening.
All We Imagine As Light’, an Indo-French production, is the story of a nurse named Prabha who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, causing disruption in her life. Three years ago, Payal Kapadia won the ‘le prix du documentaire’ for Best Documentary for ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’ at Cannes. ‘All We Imagine As Light’ is her first feature film.
